Television and Media - Categorization of TV Sitcom...

Categorization of Sitcom Fathers For this essay I consulted EPGuides.com[1] and The Internet Movie Database[2], which also includes minimal facts of television shows and casts. Throughout the course of television history there have evolved several types and variations of fathers: the Simulacrum; the Single-parent; the Substitute; the Homer Simpson; the Apathetic. Though their characteristics coincide with American values, the Simulacrum Father does not merely represent ideals but America’s adoption of simulations. Jean Baudrillard concisely describes his complex idea of simulacra as â€Å"the generation by models of a real without origin or reality† in â€Å"The Precession of Simulacra.† Mid-Twentieth-century television fathers such as†¦show more content†¦The Simulacrum Father endures because sitcom fathers reinforce American ideals of fathers through deriving from past generation of ideal father images, the same origin of audiences’ ideals. The Single-parent Father diverges from the Simulacrum as such fathers exist as referents; however, this type signifies another American ideal of the virtuous parent. The model for this type is Bob Saget’s Danny Tanner of Full House, who strove to provide his three daughters the experience of two parents through dedication, over-compensation, and unhealthy doses of didactic conversations. Two shows descended from Full House illustrate both the simulacrum (through their cast connections to Full House) and attributes of the single-parent father: Raising Dad, featuring Bob Saget, â€Å"A sitcom about a widowed father struggling to separate his professional personal lives and keeping his sanity while raising two daughters,† (imdb.com) and â€Å"Two of a Kind,† â€Å"A show about a single father who has his hands full raising twin sisters Mary-Kate and Ashley [Olsen, of Full House]† (imdb.com). The description of these shows alludes to single-parenting as th e modern struggle; unlike other ideals, this television image represents reality at least in as much as the high divorce rates of the 1990s, thoughShow MoreRelatedBlack Culture And Issues Within The Media1625 Words   |  7 PagesThere have been countless shows on television that have had a focus on black culture and issues within the community. The Television shows Fresh Prince of Bel Air and Black-ish bring to light and successfully decode the 20th to 21st century race issues, specifically black male issues that have not been adequately dealt with in the mainstream media. Mainstream television has had black characters and have covered black issues, but they often have characters that fit and fuel stereotypes about theRead MoreGender Stereotypes And Gender Roles1959 Words   |  8 PagesWhether it is on TV or movie screens, the faces of white actors and actresses have always been prevalent in the media. For generations, many teenagers have been exposed to countless movies with w hite people in major roles. Moreover, the few roles that are cast to minorities feature the characters in their stereotypical personas (Bonilla-Silva 179). Even in advertising, Asians are placed in business settings, upholding the hard-working Asian stereotype (Taylor and Stern 50). As Taylor and Stern mentionRead MoreJudith Butlers Perception of the Female in the Modern Era: Gender Identity and the Act of Becoming in Cindy Shermans History Portraits6698 Words   |  27 Pagesand issues surrounding identity, which erupted with such force in America following the publication of Betty Friedans The Feminine Mystique in 1963. Sherman believed that her work was feminist but she rejected any strict categorization, feeling that ultimately such categorization hindered rather than helped her to connect with her art. Her approach to work grew out of an era largely defined by the Womens Movement, but her approach was more practical than theoretical (Berne, 2003). Feminism was the